Return to Firetop Mountain (book)
:For other uses of '''Return to Firetop Mountain', see'' Return to Firetop Mountain Return to Firetop Mountain is a single-player role-playing gamebook written by Ian Livingstone, illustrated by Martin McKenna and originally published in 1992 by Puffin Books. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2003. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 50th in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-036008-5) and 16th in the Wizard "Series 1" (ISBN 1-84046-481-X). There are currently no announced plans to republish this book as part of the Scholastic series. Creation It is a sequel to the first Fighting Fantasy book, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, written to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Fighting Fantasy. It was originally planned to be the final book in the series, however due to its unexpected popularity Puffin published another nine books before they ended the Fighting Fantasy series. Background - Back Cover ("Dragon" Edition)}} The book fleshed out the details of Zagor and the area northern Allansia in the world of ''Fighting Fantasy. In The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, Zagor was portrayed as merely a reclusive warlock who is guarding the treasure chest in the heart of a mountain, and the player's objective is just to obtain the treasure by slaying Zagor. In this sequel, Zagor was instead portrayed as an Evil wizard who was once slain by a heroic adventurer years ago and is now resurrected, seeking revenge on Allansia. The reader takes the role of another adventurer, and this time his objective is not solely for the treasures, but to rid Allansia of the evil Zagor. The reader must travel to Firetop Mountain and defeat the resurrected warlock Zagor. Unlike the first book the player must traverse the land to actually get to the mountain before facing its dangers. In addition, the second half of the mountain has been changed, giving the player no particular advantage from knowledge of the layout provided in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain. There are several references to the original book, which includes a case that housed an arrow in the original book is found to be empty and a trap involving a sword disguised as a lever also reappears. Rules The book in general follows the original rules set down in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (see Game System). Unique Rules The player begins the adventure with no Provisions. - pg.12 Equipment List - pg.13 *Sword *Backpack *Lantern Cover and Illustrations Covers The original cover of the book was designed and illustrated by Les Edwards. When the book was republished by Wizard the cover was once again re-worked, this time by Martin McKenna. The "Special Limited Edition" of the Wizard version used gold embossing as opposed to the usual silver. Illustrations The interior illustrations were by Martin McKenna. There were 30 full page illustrations and 5 minor repeated illustrations scattered throughout the text. The paragraphs with a full page illustration were: 1, 14, 28, 42, 60, 72, 87, 102, 118, 131, 144, 158, 169, 182, 194, 210, 222, 238, 249, 262, 277, 283, 291, 305, 318, 335, 347, 360, 371 and 398. The black and white interior map was by Leo Hartas. Intertextual References *The character Zagor was a major recurring villain in ''Fighting Fantasy canon. First appearing in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain and The Trolltooth Wars prior to this book and later he also appeared in The Zagor Chronicles series of novels written by Ian Livingstone and Carl Sargent, and the later Fighting Fantasy gamebook based on the novels, Legend of Zagor. *In the encounter with the Inquisitor (18), the guardian of the path to the inner sanctum of Firetop Mountain, the player, if successful, is invited to peruse his library. Of the books in the library, five are named and two of these are titles of other books by Livingstone: Casket of Souls (which you do not get to read in the book), and Eye of the Dragon which had appeared as a short adventure in a non-''Fighting Fantasy'' book. Other Media Main Characters YOU: Hero of Return to Firetop Mountain *Crook *"Deep Sea Downland" *"Dungheap Dan" *Eeyun *Fyll *Gereth Yaztromo *Inquisitor *Lorrie *Maak *Moose - Barkeep *Ndroo *Neel *Pitmaster *Sach *Stooy *"The Ferryman" *Zagor - Wizard *Zoot Zimmer - Half-Elf Locations *Anvil *Catfish River *Darkwood Forest *Firetop Mountain *Hobnail Street *Kaad *Pagan Plains *Pudding Street *Red River *Silverton *Stonebridge *''The Two Moons'' *Yaztromo's Tower Encounters *Barbarian *Cave Troll *Chaos Beast Man *Chaos Slime Beast *Chaos Warrior - Regular/Undead *Death Head *Diamond Sentinel *Doppelgänger *Dwarf *Giant Eagle *Goblins *Gorgon *Harpy *Hobgoblin *Hunchback *Lizard Men *Metallix *Mutant Dog Beast *Mutant Beast Lord *Ogre *Orc *Plague Bearer *Razorfish *Skeletons - Regular/Warrior *Tracker *Troglodyte *Vampire *Vampire Bat *Wererat *Zagor Further Notes *Ian Livingstone makes a cameo appearance as the Inquisitor who had attended the School of Evil Magic, the School of Demonic Sorcery, and studied under the Necromancer Hellmoon before going into the service of Zagor and guarding the path to the inner sanctum of Firetop Mountain, in the illustration accompanying (262).25th Anniversary Edition of - pg.221 *Ian Livingstone dedicated the book to the crew that was sponsored by Games Workshop and won the "Daily Telegraph Ultra 30 Grand Prix UK Championship" in 1990 and 1991. In (238) there is a stylised illustration of this Ultra 30 boat.25th Anniversary Edition of - pg.224-225 The crew also appear, their names being "fantasy" versions of their real names. For example we have Ndroo (Andrew), Neel (Neil) and Fyll (Phil). *The fantasy anthology book Battle Magic uses the same cover art as the original Return to Firetop Mountain. Errors *When the player leaves the Gorgon's lair after killing the creature, an incorrect reference to turn to is given. From (79), the book tells the player to turn to (352), but in fact they should turn to (209). Corrected in the Wizard edition. *The player is required to collect 4 teeth in the adventure. In actual fact there are 6 to be found, although one is just plain without a number. Since the player also has to collect pages of a tiny book in order to know how to use the teeth, the unnumbered tooth can be used (providing the player has it) as the book tells the player what the numbers are. *The "bronze tooth" is described as "silver" by the time you are abe to use it. *In (209) the pots seem to have been mixed up. *Before the last duel you "remove your armour" - does that mean skill points regained with the help of such items should be deducted? *At (375), the section leading to (132) reads, "If you want to enter the back room and have not done so already". However, once (132) has been investigated, the reader is forced to leave for (13) without given any additional choice to investigate (375). *(380) doesn't make much sense, especially if you have been forced there from (268) because of the Barbarian's condition. *You can't have a helmet in (65). Dedication Puffin Edition To all members of my Ultra 30 Race Team without whom this book would not have been necessary! - pg.4 Wizard Edition To Martin McKenna for bringing Fighting Fantasy to life with his art - pg.4 See Also *''Casket of Souls'' *''Dicing with Dragons'' Reviews External Links *Character Sheet - Retrieved 2019-10-26 *[http://www.gamebooks.org/show_series.php?id=11 Fighting Fantasy at Gamebooks.org] - Retrieved 2019-10-26 *[http://www.gamebooks.org/show_series.php?id=12 Fighting Fantasy (Wizard Series) at Gamebooks.org] - Retrieved 2019-10-26 *[http://www.gamebooks.org/show_item.php?id=94 Return to Firetop Mountain at Gamebooks.org] - Retrieved 2019-10-26 *[http://web.archive.org/web/20051127132124/www.fightingfantasy.com/ffb50.htm Return to Firetop Mountain on the Internet Archive record of the old] Fightingfantasy.com - Retrieved 2019-10-26 References Category:1992 books Category:Fighting Fantasy Original Series Category:Fighting Fantasy Wizard Series